Wife’s dead body found in driver’s passenger seat

Eloy, Arizona: Police in Arizona say a detective making a traffic stop on Interstate 10 was speaking to a driver from Oklahoma when he noticed the man's dead wife in the passenger seat.

Police in Arizona say a detective making a traffic stop on Interstate 10 was speaking to Rodney Puckett from Oklahoma when he noticed the man’s dead wife in the passenger seat.Credit:AP

Eloy police said in a statement that 70-year-old Rodney Puckett said Monday that 74-year-old Linda Puckett died at a hotel in Texas and that he put her body in their vehicle before continuing their trip.

Puckett was arrested on suspicion of abandonment or concealment of a dead body, and it's not known whether he has an attorney who could comment on his behalf.

The body was turned over to the Pinal County Medical Examiner's Office to determine cause of death.

Police did not respond to requests for additional information, including the couple's hometown in Oklahoma or their destination.